Crops and Forage

Milk price reduces options

Impacts of cuts to forecasted milk payments to the nation’s 12,000 dairy farms are expected to ripple across the wider economy, including the arable sector. By Victoria Rutherford.

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Tech investment drives business

Investment in precision agriculture and a focus on input efficiencies is showing tangible results for a South Canterbury farming family. By Victoria Rutherford.

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Driving plant productivity

Generating $30 billion a year and employing one in every 10 people, New Zealand’s economic fortunes rest heavily on the productivity of its pastoral sector. By Sandra Taylor.

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Beet for finishing lambs, not ewes

Fodder beet is high-energy feed that can be grown for relatively low cost if the yields are good, Kerry Dwyer writes.

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Prudent forage and crop strategy

Annual reviews of forages and crops for sheep and cattle will mean better results. By Dr Ken Geenty.

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Spreading the risk

There’s no rule book on the Taggarts’ farm in North Canterbury, and they don’t mind the debt because it keeps them pushing. Story and photos by Annabelle Latz.

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Entering the cereal game

With increasing costs and lower returns, the wash up of the 2022-23 season has seen a review of alternative cropping enterprises that have some synergy with sheep-dominant farming operations. By Simon Glennie.

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Arable prospects

Pastoral farmers tempted to grow cereals on their farms as a result of recent high prices are being urged to tread carefully as the market returns to a more normal demand and supply situation. By Glenys Christian.

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RPR’s rocky road

Not so long ago RPR was seen as the new fertiliser saviour, but science and experience has shown it to be less of a success than first predicted and promoted. By Dr Doug Edmeades.

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Giving cultivar confidence

Independently run cereal performance trials have given arable growers confidence that the cultivars they are selecting have been tested in commercial conditions and their performance rigorously analysed.

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